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US flag sales rise in Michigan, as national trend falls
When Billie Evitts moved into her Dearborn home two years ago, hanging a flag outside her house was among the first decorating her family did.
"My husband put it up the second day we were there," she said. "I'm proud to be American. These days, some people seem like they're offended by the flag, but we are in America, so I don't think there's any reason to not have the flag out."
Evitts' brother recently returned home from the Army, and her sister also previously served: "I'm proud of them, and I'm thankful for members of the military so that we can live the way we do."
More Michiganians have joined Evitts this year in showing their patriotic spirit by flying the star-spangled banner, according to flag shops in the state.
A recent Rasmussen poll reported 85 percent of American adults said they are proud of their nation and its past, a result similar to previous years. National U.S. flag sales, according to Reggie VandenBosch, a board member of the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, appear to be flat this year. With wholesale totals at about $300 million, flag sales are behind the 5 to 6 percent growth the industry has seen over the past five years.
But not in Michigan. Although a recent WalletHub study ranked the Great Lakes state as No. 43 in patriotism, stores that sell U.S. flags said sales were on track or doing better than recent years — some by as much as 50 percent.
Michelle Racknor, office manager at Better Buy Flag in Lapeer, said the store typically sees 800 flag sales annually. This year, they are up to 1,500.
"More or less, people don't want to have a poor-looking flag," Racknor said. "They want one that looks great, because it's representing their country."
The increase comes during a mid-term election year, which includes a governor's race in Michigan, as well as a politically contentious time in American politics. As President Donald Trump touts an "America First" agenda, his tariff proposals and immigration policies have drawn fervent debate.
Jane Miles, owner of the 101-year-old American Flag & Banner shop in Clawson, said she has sold a third more stock this year than the 12,000 flags she sells annually on average. She said most of her customers are Republicans.
Respect for the flag "wasn’t played to the public as much as last year," Miles said. "Trump always has eight or 12 behind him. It's more of a show of patriotism. Even the slogan 'Make America Great Again,' it tends to value the flag and patriotism."
Trump supporters, said Rich Keenan, owner of Canton's Old Glory Flag and Flagpoles, are more vocal when they make their purchase: "A lot of the Trump people are very patriotic; they’re very pro-flying the flag. The other ones, they don’t really talk politics. They just want to fly the flag."
Keenan said he saw a 50 percent increase in sales over Memorial Day weekend. Since then, he noted, business has slowed.
Politics may not be the only reason sales have increased. Racknor at Better Buy Flag suggested that recent economic growth has given people more disposable income.
Tim Mohney, owner of Flags Unlimited Ltd. in Grand Rapids, agreed. Selling thousands of flags each year of all sizes, Flags Unlimited has seen a 5 percent increase in sales over previous years.
"It's more of the bigger-ticket items," he said. "People are stepping up and spending more money than buying the cheapest ones. If it’s more political, we would see our low-end stuff selling faster."
After 9/11, a rise in patriotic spirit among Americans wiped Mohney's shelves clean. He had difficulty ordering stock. Some people bought French flags, because they were red, white and blue. That is not the case this year.
For years, Stella Marlett of Dearborn Heights has flown a flag in front of her house. Five years ago, she and her husband upgraded; they installed a flagpole on their property.
"I'm proud of where we live, but it's hard," she said. "It's so much harder with the way the world is going."
Still Marlett said she thinks everyone should fly a flag: "It's about freedom. We're united in that."
Warren-based Art Van Furniture is offering to replace worn and tattered flags with new ones at no cost. Over Memorial Day weekend, the company replaced nearly 10,000 U.S. flags, more than double that of last year. It is collecting flags for Independence Day through July 9 and will do so again for Labor Day.
"I’m thrilled that Midwesterners are proud to fly the flag," said Diane Charles, Art Van vice president of corporate communications. "I'm glad Art Van can help beautify their home."
VandenBosch of FMAA said a number of factors contribute to flag sales, including economics, politics and the prevalence of flags in a person's neighborhood. Ultimately, he said, display of the flag is about celebrating American freedom, honoring military members and taking pride in the country.
"Hopefully it's bigger than one party," he said. "I know it is for me."


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When Anna Maria Kambourakis and her husband, Vasilis Kokologiannakis, moved to the Greek island of Crete in 2013, their dream was to start a new life while also reconnecting with their heritage. American-born children of Cretan immigrants, they’d grown tired of the rat race and sought refuge and opportunity in the Mediterranean.
In 2017, the couple launched Chania Wine Tours to share their love for Cretan wine with visitors from all over the world. During its first two years, business boomed. Then came 2020.
“We had about 10% of our usual sales in 2020,” says Kambourakis.
Without the wineries fully operational, they didn’t have anywhere to take the few guests they did have.
“Greece’s economy had never fully recovered from the 2008 crash, Grexit and all our other economic problems, so pivoting to new revenue streams has not been easy for many,” she says. “Unemployment has always been high, and bureaucratic red tape doesn’t make it easy to start something new.”
In addition to the loss of income from tasting room visitors, there’s a huge surplus of wine on the island.
“Since wine has an expiration date, it’s been very stressful to navigate what to do with the wine,” says Kambourakis. “Three wineries that I know personally have had to build extra storage facilities on premise for the wine surplus. The vineyards continue to produce. Wineries get one shot a year to make their wine, and the vines must go on.”
They’ve tried to support local wineries as best as they could.
“I did a few online tastings for former guests to strengthen those connections,” says Kambourakis. “The virtual tasting arena quickly got overcrowded. A few wineries have had to refocus on the local markets and virtual wine tastings to increase their sales domestically, but the loss is too great to make a dent.”
Kambourakis started a wine blog, Unraveling Wine, to keep busy and generate a small income. Kokologiannakis worked throughout the year at a winery to help with harvest, bottling, pruning and trellising. They qualified for some government assistance, which helped a little.
“It did keep our heads above water,” says Kambourakis. “Here in Crete, it feels like everyone is biding their time.”
On April 19, Greece became the first country in the European Union (EU) to permit international visitors, allowing in residents of the EU, the U.S., UK, Israel, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates who are vaccinated or can show negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results up to 72 hours they arrive.
According to the most recent figures from the Greek government, tourism accounts for 18% of Greece’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs more than 900,000 people, one-fifth of the workforce. Kambourakis hopes the industry can begin to bounce back.
“I’d like to see more wineries offering specialized and private small group events: wine hikes, wine and food pairings, picnics or music events—less pretentiousness. Wine is for everyone.”—Tanisha Townsend
In spring 2019, Chania Wine Tours was at 80% capacity for the season. If it has at least 50% of tours booked next spring, it will feel like the company has “fully recovered,” says Kambourakis.
“We expect that tourism will resume perhaps in the third quarter here,” she says.
“Lucky for us, our tours have always been private or small groups of no more than six people, so we don’t anticipate having to change too much about our business model to adapt to regulations. It is our hope that since Greece handled the pandemic relatively well compared to other parts of Europe, that we’ll be rewarded with tourists who will feel safe here.”
As vaccine rollouts continue and borders reopen, Kambourakis envisions a thriving industry, albeit one that’s markedly different.
“Wine tourism is about to explode,” she says. “There is a whole new generation eager to learn about wine at the source and reconnect with farming and winemaking. People will seek less-crowded wine destinations that are practicing sustainability, and there will be a stronger interest in small wineries.”
Global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020, as international arrivals dropped by 74%, or one billion fewer visitors than 2019, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. After a year of being trapped indoors and behind screens, the desire for tangibility seems to be at an all-time high.
Like Kambourakis, Tanisha Townsend, a Paris-based wine tour guide behind Girl Meets Glass, predicts a shift toward more intimate settings, as well as an emphasis on making wine more interactive.
“I’d like to see more wineries offering specialized and private small group events,” says Townsend. “Wine hikes, wine and food pairings, picnics or music events—less pretentiousness. Wine is for everyone.”
“Some don’t know what to do and aren’t equipped to make changes,” she says. “Or they didn’t in the beginning and were thinking, ‘Oh, this will just be a few months and it won’t last.’ ”
Tourism regions began to focus on their own residents, who could visit and offer some immediate support, says Townsend. While her normal food and wine excursions throughout Paris and Champagne have been on pause for more than a year, she has adjusted her business model through virtual wine tastings, managing influencer campaigns for wine producers and social media consulting.
Townsend has “no idea” what her post-pandemic normality will look like, but she does know that she’s ready to return to sharing wine with oenophiles.
“I look forward to just getting back to the wineries I love and to discovering new ones,” she says. “And people are ready to get back to it. The second things open back up, people are flying out. I hope the wineries are ready.”
In California’s wine country, Bernadette Byrne, executive director of the Mendocino Winegrowers Association and a member of the Visit Mendocino tourism board, is gearing up for that massive influx of tourists.
Mendocino is a driveable destination for the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento region, and Byrne believes some will continue to be wary of air and international travel. Staycation-style trips could be more popular than ever, and businesses are figuring out how to respond.
“This pandemic has given our tourism related businesses the impetus to rethink their business and pivot to strategies that will help them move forward in the ‘new normal’ of travel post-COVID,” says Byrne.
Wineries that have introduced virtual tasting experiences and at-home tasting kits will likely hold onto those revenue boosters as they lean into strengthened ties with loyal fans and club members fostered throughout the pandemic. They’re more than ready to engage with them in real life.
Another pandemic-era marker that will likely remain is an emphasis on outdoor space. Countless wineries invested to better accommodate visitors outside. Those accommodations will continue to be welcome, as tourists seek to sip beneath a perfectly shaded spot with a stunning scenic view.
“The wine industry will continue to be a huge tourism driver as people seek to be in nature and outdoors,” says Byrne. “The pandemic has given the Mendocino County wine industry the ability to step up its visitation game. We have moved to a more sit-down and reservation style of tasting and welcoming guests. I hope this sticks.”
Byrne echoes the sentiments of her industry colleagues: Personalization will be paramount and packed, impersonal tasting rooms will be sidelined as people remain apprehensive to gather in big groups.
“The large-group, party-bus concept will not be part of most wineries’ business plan,” she says. “The days of overcrowded tasting rooms with less personalized service for guests has been replaced with a more curated experience for small, intimate groups.”
The picture of post-pandemic wine tourism being painted is decidedly less grandiose than one might imagine.
Analysts and trend forecasters have suggested a new Roaring Twenties will begin, marked by excess and extravagance. And while that may be true in some areas of society, it seems that many in the wine world won’t be so concerned with opulence.
Instead, the focus will be on education and intention, regardless of destination.
People will likely be eager to explore the unfamiliar, and the most successful wine businesses will be there to guide them as they embark on new adventures.
Last Updated: May 8, 2023

domain: news


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The push for sales tax fairness
The Tennessee Department of Revenue is developing regulations to require out-of-state retailers to collect Tennessee sales taxes on goods sold to state residents.
This is not a new issue to our state or many others. What is new is the possibility of these efforts leading to a Supreme Court challenge that could overturn the archaic and anti-small business bias reflected in the current sales tax treatment of out-of-state retailers. The current law exempting certain out-of-state retailers from collecting sales tax on Tennessee-based sales discriminates against local companies, weakens our economy, and hurts our communities.
The Supreme Court has heard two cases (Hess and Quill) challenging a state's right to collect sales taxes from out-of-state retailers. In both cases, the Court ruled in favor of the out-of-state retailers by requiring a business to have 'nexus' in a state before it must collect sales tax. Nexus is established when a business has either physical or personal presence in a state.
Both of these cases were litigated prior to the internet and e-commerce. Obviously, the issues' scope and importance have grown with the explosion of e-commerce. Retail e-commerce sales have grown from $11.6 billion in 1999 to an estimated $397 billion in 2016. Total e-commerce sales were over $3 trillion in 2008.
In an age of e-commerce and multiple communication platforms, the notion that a business only has presence if it owns property or has employees in a state is naïve. Every time you check your phone, iPad, or laptop, out-of-state company pop-ups appear. To suggest that an out-of-state retailer that sells goods to thousands of Tennesseans for millions of dollars hasn't established a substantial presence in our state ignores the modern market place.
Some industry representatives argue that the Constitution's commerce clause, which prohibits states from interfering in interstate commerce, prohibits a state from collecting sales taxes from an out-of-state retailer. I find it laughable when I watch otherwise serious business persons arguing that it is unfair to tax out-of-state businesses the same as in-state business when they are competing for the same Tennessee customer. Really!? Since when does the Constitution allow out-of-state retailers the right to sales tax-free commerce?
The implications of this unfair tax policy favoring out-of-state retailers go way beyond unpaid Tennessee sales tax collections, which are estimated to range from $350-500 million per year. First, out-of-state retailers are getting a price discount for not being Tennesseans. Second, in-state companies who cannot lower their prices to match their sales tax-free competitors realize lower sales, reduced profits, and weaker growth. Lastly, Tennessee businesses support Tennessee communities. Locally-owned businesses support youth sports, community groups, and other events. I have never seen a Knoxville youth baseball or softball jersey emblazoned with the name of an out-of-state company.
The state of Tennessee should continue its push to issue fair sales tax regulations that place out-of-state businesses on equal footing with in-state businesses. If we are lucky, the inevitable lawsuit by out-of-state businesses against these regulations will reach the Supreme Court. Unlike prior Courts, certain current justices have indicated an understanding of e-commerce, the anachronistic interpretation of nexus, and the outdated standards used in the Quill and Hess cases


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Author: Gan Jia Ci
GMO Internet, a Tokyo-listed technology company that provides internet services, announced on 31 May that it will be launching new app “CryptoChips by GMO” that facilitates distributing cryptocurrencies to gamers.
At the beginning of commencement, CryptoChips will be collaborating with Bitcoin, allowing gamers to obtain the coins as “secret pocket money” by fulfilling certain game missions and attaining specific rankings. In order to receive the remunerations, the players are required to possess cryptocurrency wallets beforehand.
This first initiative commences in August in “Whimsical War”, a real-time territorial battle game developed by GMO. Available on both IOS and Android, the game allows players to receive Bitcoin remunerations directly from GMO instead of mining.
Meanwhile, in other news, GMO will also be launching the world’s first 7nm mining chip machine on 6 June, with mass production and shipping to takeoff by October.
In the future, GMO plans to include rival games and other coins in its project. Through its effort to promote digital wallets and coins via the new app, the tech giants wishes to encourage the general public to become more intimate with cryptocurrencies.
GMO Internet has been actively supporting the cryptocurrency business since last year. It first launched cryptocurrency trading and cryptocurrency FX in May 2017 and a mining venture in December last year. In February 2018, GMO’s partners have been receiving a fraction of their income through Bitcoin. GMO will be expanding its cryptocurrency business further in the future.
This will not be the first time that Bitcoin has collaborated with mobile apps. In May, Bitcoin partnered up with freemium game The Simpsons: Tapped Out to provide exposure for the cryptocurrency.


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Search Results (3614)
Documents on Internet Law
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|The Ashley Madison Hack is More than Just Embarrassing|
McDonald Hopkins LLC;
August 25, 2015, previously published on August 21, 2015It was a bad week for people looking to cheat on their spouses - hackers publicly released the personal information of roughly 33 million users of the cheating site Ashley Madison. Aside from the obvious public embarrassment, many experts are saying the incident underscores the serious...
|U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds FTC’s Authority to Regulate Cybersecurity|
Sutherland Asbill Brennan LLP;
August 25, 2015, previously published on August 24, 2015Today, the United States Court of Appeals for Third Circuit issued its opinion in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. upholding the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to regulate corporate cybersecurity under Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits businesses from...
|Data Dump! AshleyMadison.com Fallout Deepens|
Wynter Lavier Deagle; Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.;
August 20, 2015, previously published on August 20, 2015The Impact Team, the vigilante group behind the hacking of the infamous website AshleyMadison.com has followed through on its threat to leak the full database of the site’s users online. On Tuesday, August 18, 2015, an impressive 9.7 gigabytes of compressed data was posted to the dark web...
|NAIC CyberSecurity Task Force To Review Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC) Cyber-Assessment Tool|
G. Donovan Brown; Colodny Fass, P.A.;
August 12, 2015, previously published on August 10, 2015The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") Cybersecurity Task Force will discuss the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council ("FFIEC") Cybersecurity Assessment Tool ("CAT") as part of its Summer 2015 National Meeting agenda (Twitter Hashtag...
|Getting Compliant With the EU Cookie Law|
Matthew D. Lawless, Diane D. Reynolds, Michael Wager; Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP;
August 7, 2015, previously published on August 4, 2015Google recently sent out a letter to users of its AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers, and DoubleClick Ad Exchange products.
|Internet of Things and Cybersecurity|
Kevin L. LaRoche, Scott Widdowson; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP;
August 7, 2015, previously published on August 4, 2015The “Internet of Things” (IoT) is the developing web of objects embedded with microchips capable of allowing sending and receiving data, and so connecting them to the network we call the Internet. In an article in the Harvard Business Review late last year, Michael Porter and James...
|Nevada, Washington and North Dakota Expand Data Breach Definition and Notice Requirements|
Lindsay B. Nickle, Kevin M. Scott; Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP;
August 6, 2015, previously published on July 29, 2015Continuing the trend of states expanding their data privacy laws, companies that store and transmit personal information about residents of Nevada, Washington and North Dakota must now take note of additional data-element definitions and notice requirements following data breach incidents. In...
|Seventh Circuit Holds That Risk of Future Fraudulent Charge on Credit Card Sufficient to Withstand Motion to Dismiss|
Melissa K. Ventrone, Aleksandra M. S. Vold; Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP;
August 5, 2015, previously published on July 22, 2015During the 2013 holiday season, Neiman Marcus, like many other retailers, discovered that its payment card systems had been compromised and customers’ credit and debit card information was potentially stolen. The rush to the courthouse began, and multiple class action lawsuits were filed and...
|Department of Justice Releases Cyber Security Best Practices|
Paul Hawkins; Vandeventer Black LLP;
August 5, 2015, previously published on July 2015Cyber security is a hot topic in today’s news cycle. Whether it was the much-publicized Sony hack, or the very recent compromise of enormous amounts of highly sensitive U.S. government information, these types of incidents have been shown to be extremely costly to organizations. Today,...
|Appointing Legacy Contacts for Facebook|
Meredith Edwards Collins; Adams and Reese LLP;
July 31, 2015, previously published on July 7, 2015Earlier this year (Feb. 2015), Facebook announced a new feature that allows Facebook users to designate a legacy contact to manage their Facebook account when they pass away. According to facebook.com, a legacy contact is, "[s]omeone you choose to look after your account if it's...


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Spice and seasoning manufacturer Red Monkey Foods expands into new facility
Red Monkey Foods, a leading producer of premium spice and seasoning products, has announced plans to invest $3.4 million into a new 60,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Republic, moving 110 new jobs to the area with an additional 40 jobs expected over the next few years.
Established in 2003, Red Monkey Foods markets both private label and branded products under the trade name “Good Flavors” to some of the nation’s most well-known grocery stores and supermarkets. The company purchased land in the Brookline Business Park for their new facility, which will include 54,000 sq. ft. of warehouse and production space, and 6,000 sq. ft. of office space. The facility, being built by Rich Kramer Construction, is expected to be ready for production in January 2015. Going forward, the company plans to grow its current spice bottling operations, as well as offer private label services for dry pouched meal solutions.
Chamber staff worked with the City of Republic and City Utilities on the new facility in Republic. “We are excited about our new location in Republic, and the resources it will be able to provide as we continue our aggressive growth plan in the Springfield region,” said Jeff Brinkhoff, founder and president of Red Monkey Foods.


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The Suez Canal Authority issued new resolutions concerning the fees of the transiting ships through the canal to be applied during the next year 2022. Admiral Osama Rabea, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, announced, on Thursday, increasing the transit tolls of all the types of transiting ships through the canal by 6% during 2022 compared to 2021. This planned increase will be applied in the beginning of next February. Cruise ships and LNG ships will be excluded from this increase.
The Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority explained that the resolutions of deciding the tolls of transiting through the Suez Canal and flexible marketing policies subjected to extensive studies which are prepared by the economic unit experts that are affiliated with planning and research department in Suez Canal authority after the careful follow-up and scrutiny of all variables related to the shipping market and the global economic indicators and the global trade movement, as well as reviewing periodic reports, and the recommendations issued by the organizations and institutions working in the maritime transport industry and the estimates of global financial institutions, where the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts indicate that the global economy will grow at rates of 5.9% and 49% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are also expecting continued growth in world trade traffic and rise in the demand for maritime transport at rates of 6.7% and 4.7% respectively, in 2022, thereby predicting continued high levels of the freight and good profits for shipping companies.
The decision to raise the tariffs came after the Suez Canal set a new record for transits during October. The number of ships was up 14 percent year-over-year with a total of 1,847 transits. Net tonnage was up more than 11 percent to 112.1 million tons contributing to a 12 percent increase in revenues to over $551.1 million.
The Suez Canal recorded its highest ever daily transits on September 29, 2021. A total of 87 vessels made the passage totaling 4.8 million net tons. During the day, a total of 49 vessels were northbound while 38 made the southbound transit.
During the first ten months of 2021, the Canal saw a nearly nine percent increase in tonnage. A total of 17,020 ships made the trip versus 1,380 in the first 10 months of 2020. (Photo: Suez Canal Authority)


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The Vice President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Custom Agents (ANLCA) Mr. Kayode Farinto has urged the Federal Government to reopen its land border, stating that the continuous closure negates the protocols and conventions agreement signed by the country.
Recall that the Federal Government had ordered the complete closure of Nigerian land borders, placing a ban on both legitimate and illegitimate movement of goods in and out of the country late last year due to security reasons.
However, speaking to some journalists in his office yesterday, the ANLCA Vice President stated that the closure of the border has overstayed why it was shut, informing that over 1000, licensed customs agents have been out of business with over 200,000 employees of the licensed customs agents unemployed since the closure about 10 months ago.
Farinto further argued that the continuous closure of the land borders will not only lead to job losses, but will affect the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) that Nigeria is a signatory to.
While urging the government to consider reopening for essential goods under this situation of the COVID 19 Pandemic
He said: "I am one of those that said the issue of border closure was a necessity when it was closed, however it is unfortunate that the policy makers in this country are not getting it right, we have closed our borders for more than eight months which is not too good for the country
"In the spirit of ECOWAS, it is not too good for us, now that we are trying to practice the African Free Trade Agreement it negates the agreement that we have signed.
"Ordinarily what the government should have done after closing the borders is to deploy security devices, there are prerequisite to be put in place, we are privilege to have gone through Banjul and Gambia
"Do you know that once a chip is hid on a container you can monitor that container as it is going on the road; these are things that customs refused to do, we left our borders closed and over hundreds of thousands are suffering as a result of this, and this is negating the spirit of ECOWAS and AFCTA.
"It is high time we opened our borders don't forget that freight forwarders and international business people that moves these cargoes are now unemployed with many sick and not able to afford a square meal
"It's not as if government have given them any palliatives, who ever is a think tank or the policy formulator for the government is not getting it right, I am of the opinion that it is high time we open our borders" he said.
Speaking further the Vice president of the ANLCA said due to the COVID 19 Pandemic the federal government may consider reopening for essential goods for now pending when the continents is free of the pandemic
"They will have to subject it to essential goods every country of the world still allows essential goods to move despite the outbreak of Corona Virus. For no,w we need to open our borders for essential goods to come in.
"The border closure was supposed to be a sting operation you do it for some few months and you open the border back, because the various neighbouring countries are ready to play the game by our rules.
"So why should we continue to close the borders, don't forget that oil is dwindling and I think the only thing we can do is to allow trade to Foster
"But now that the border is closed so many are unemployed, not even now that the Corona virus is killing a lot of people, another thing that is mostly killing now is hunger, government should start having a rethink on this because over 1000 licensed agents and over 200,000 people are unemployed due to the closure", he said.


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Consumer spending rose modestly in June
Consumer spending rose modestly in June amid solid gains in job and income growth.
Americans' purchases increased 0.2% after jumping a revised 0.7% in May, the Commerce Department said Monday. Economists expected a 0.2% rise.
Personal income increased 0.4%, above the 0.3% projected by economists.
Retail sales fell in June, suggesting that overall consumption also might be weak. While consumer spending generally has been solid this year, tepid average wage growth has caused it to be choppy despite low gasoline prices and improved household finances.
The measure is closely followed by economists because it makes up more than two thirds of economic activity.
Despite the slowdown in June the government said last week that consumer spending rose at a health 2.9% annual pace in the second quarter.
But spending was weaker than initially believed over the past three years, according to annual revisions published Monday. Commerce revised down estimates for consumer spending over the past three years, lowering outlays by 0.3% in 2012, 0.8% in 2013 and 0.5% in 2014.
Personal income was revised up 0.2% in 2012, and was revised down to 0.7% in 2013 and 0.3% in 2014.


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Tesla's plan to reduce the price of individual shares through the split would also allow more retail investors to buy its stock.
With the split, the world's fifth-largest company by market cap will seek a $10 billion share buyback plan, replacing its $5 billion plan from 2016.
GameStop shares soar 10% after the Reddit darling said it plans a stock split for the first time in 15 years
Video game retailer GameStop said it will ask for shareholder approval to increase share count to pay a stock dividend, amid a meme stock revival.
Tesla's stock split shows the EV maker is in a massive position of strength and will be a catalyst to buy, Wedbush's Dan Ives says.
Investors will make buying decisions based on how they expect Tesla to perform,"but the stock split is going to be something that is a catalyst," Ives said.
Tesla last split its stock in August 2020 and will seek shareholder approval for another stock split at its 2022 meeting.
Bank of America finds that stock splits are followed by a 25% average price return in the following 12 months — and names 20 companies that could announce next
"Once the split is executed, investors who have wanted to gain or increase exposure may start to rush for the chance to buy," says Bank of America.
"All these big tech companies are going to find their way into the Dow because eventually they will all become essentially consumer staple companies."
Amazon shares surged more than 7% in late trading Wednesday following the two-fold announcement.
Alphabet's 20-for-1 stock split could entice other companies to do the same and draw fresh inflows into the stock market this year, Bank of America says
S&P 500 stocks with share prices above $500 represent $6.6 trillion in market value, or about 17% of the index, according to BofA.
Small investors, who sometimes flinch over the high share prices for mega-cap techs, are likely to cheer the move that will make shares more affordable.
If shareholders approve the proposed stock split on June 3, there will be 4 billion authorized shares of Nvidia common stock.
A stock split occurs when a company makes its stock more affordable by dividing existing shares into additional, cheaper ones. It's often a good sign.
The stock split would make it easier for retail investors to participate in Airbnb's IPO because of a reduction in overall share price.
This isn't Robinhood's first rodeo dealing with service disruptions. Traders were outraged in March when its app was unusable for a period of two days.
Still, the technology giant is up roughly 70% year to date, outperforming the broader market amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Tesla shares fall 15% as its recent stock spike forces its largest outside investor to trim its stake
Baillie Gifford would "welcome the opportunity" to increase its holding in Tesla if the stock were to fall, the firm told Business Insider.
Tesla is poised to surge another 16% amid signs it will use its lofty stock price to raise money, BofA says
"The higher the upward spiral of TSLA's stock goes, the cheaper capital becomes to fund growth, which is then rewarded by investors," BofA said.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has made almost $100 billion on Apple thanks to its record stock rally
The famed investor's company owns nearly 1 billion Apple shares following the tech titan's stock split.
Monday's gains came after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached record highs last week, boosted by consumer-spending data and a shift in Fed policy.
Apple just split its stock. Here's how shares have performed one year after its previous stock splits.
If Apple had never split its stock, shares would have been trading at $27,957.44 as of Friday's close.


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The creative team behind the popular comic Saskatch-A-man is back, this time with a new story set in the world of video gaming.
Mark Allard and Elaine Will expect to debut Arkade May 13 and 14 at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, one of the biggest events for small-press comic book creators. They completed much of the work early in anticipation of getting into the festival.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“I had the book well over half done before I even knew that we’d been accepted,” Will said. Much of the pressure that comes with debuting a comic at an event that draws exhibitors from as far away as Israel and Australia is meeting deadlines.
“When we were accepted we knew the pressure was off a little bit because we anticipated it — we kind of rushed to get the book done,” Allard said.
Arkade will hit the shelves in Saskatoon soon after its Toronto debut. It blends the throwback game with a modern setting, following a cartridge video game character named AxeMan who lives inside the world of a Viking-themed video game. The long-neglected game sits in a thrift shop collecting dust, but a destructive pixel storm sends AxeMan off on a new adventure to save his realm.


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Volvo has released few details yet of the fourth and final model in the company’s 90-series line-up, which includes the Volvo XC90 seven-seater SUV, S90 sedan and the twin V90 wagon on which the new CC is based.
The higher-riding V90 gets the typical Cross Country treatment including black plastic protective trim for areas such as the wheel-arches, skid plates and side scuff plates. There’s an extra 65mm of ground clearance over the regular wagon, according to Britain’s Autocar.
It also reports that the all-wheel-drive Cross Country will feature four switchable driving modes, comprising Rough Road, Comfort, Eco and Dynamic, and rear air suspension will be optional as it is on the XC90.
A range of bigger wheels can also be expected based on Volvo’s approach to its other jacked-up models, which include the Volvo V40 Cross Country and V60 Cross Country.
Four-cylinder engines from the rest of the 90-series line-up will be available for Volvo Cars Australia to select from. Meaning D4 and D5 turbo diesels and T5 and T6 turbo petrols. Volvo’s T8 petrol-electric hybrid is also likely to be available.
The V90 Cross Country completes Volvo’s move away from XC badges for its high-riding wagons, instead using the letters exclusively for its SUV range.
The more rugged V90 will be a crucial model for Volvo in the North American market, where the XC70 – or V70 XC as it has also been known – has been popular since its debut 20 years ago.
Volvo’s regular V90 wagon doesn’t arrive in Australia until the first quarter of 2017, so expect its taller sibling some months after.
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Toyota teases Tundra TRD Pro interior - UPDATE
Toyota has shared a photo of the new Tundra ahead of its official release
Analysis: NSW takes Victoria's EV policy and betters it
The NSW Government saw Victoria's EV policy and went a step, or several, further
Fisker could bring Ocean EV to Australia, outlines plans for a carbon neutral vehicle
American manufacturer says it is taking Australian reservations for its new EV crossover with ambitions of delivering a carbon neutral vehicle by 2027


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Sony’s PlayStation 4 came out on top as Best Buy’s biggest earner during the Black Friday shopping period, according to market research firm, Infoscout.
The info comes in a published list of the top sellers and highest earning products across various retailers during the lucrative shopping period, with the $299.99 PS4 bundle featuring a copy of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection nabbing the top spot at Best Buy.
Infoscout compiled the data via its app on Thanksgiving night and Black Friday, taking into account 151,337 receipts sent in by customers. You can check out the full list below (via DualShockers).
PS4 has enjoyed a massively successful 2015 so far, with Sony announcing last week that the platform has now sold 30.2 million units worldwide since November 2013. In fact, the console sold a whopping 11.7 million units between January and November of this year alone. Over in the U.K., it was reported earlier this year that the console is tracking ahead of the PS2; an impressive feat considering that system remains not only Sony’s biggest-selling console, but the best-selling home platform of all time. Even Microsoft has admitted that the PS4 has managed to secure a massive lead over the Xbox One.


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Deli Opens on Main Street in Lumberton
I drove on Main Street in Lumberton, NJ almost every day of my life. And many times while driving on that street, I think about how nice it would be if Lumberton's Main Street could have some restaurants or shops like the Main Streets in nearby towns Medford and Moorestown.
Then one day last week, I noticed a sign that said "Grand Opening." That sign was on a building on Main Street that used to be home to the Lumberton Post Deli and now years after that establishment closed, a new deli has opened.
The new deli, which is located at 579 Main Street, is called Not Just Subs and according to its Facebook page, it's open daily from 7am-2:30pm and serves breakfast and lunch.
Not Just Sub's Kitchen Manager, Christina Salvatore, told the Burlington County Times that in addition to normal deli items, Not Just Subs "will offer all kinds of specials, with at least one available on a daily basis."
According to realtor.com, the building that was home to Lumberton Post Deli was listed "on sale" in 2008 for $450,000. The property was sold in 2013 for $147,000.
The only other business currently located in "downtown" Lumberton is an auto repair shop called Always Running Automotive, although about a mile away (and closer to Route 38), there are several local businesses, including a convenient store called Pak A Sack, a florist called Amy's Flower Junction, and a pizza shop called Little Shop of Pizza.
According to a post on worthpoint.com, a restaurant named McGarrity's Hedgerow Inn was located on Main Street in Lumberton between 1902-1952.
An image of a postcard found on cardcow.com shows the inn and describes it this way, "Excellent food. Refined colonial atmosphere & hospitality. Ample parking. Air conditioned. Also cocktail lounge. Always a friendly welcome."
LOOK: The Best Ice Cream Shops in Burlington County


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Breaking News! Coronavirus Alert in California – 11 declared deaths
Breaking NEWS: California declares state of emergency
Researchers from China declared that the deadly virus has at least one mutation and now is more powerful but also hard to combat.
The biggest companies in the world are trying to prevent the spread of the COVID-19
Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Apple have already restricted all travel to China and canceled big events. They have encouraged their employees to work from home.
Recommendations for prevention
– if you have fever, respiratory symptoms or you feel sick you should stay at home and avoid contact with other people
– clean your house carefully using sanitizer solution
– wash your hand frequently for at least 20 seconds and avoid touching your face
– avoid crowded places like markets or the subway
– use a protection mask if you are outdoor
– increase your immunity system
Emergency Box for surviving Coronavirus Alert
- pain medication
- vitamins for immunity
- house cleaning agents
- food (cereals, dried fruit, pasta)
- pet care (dog, cat)
- baby supplies
Make sure you are ready in case of emergency!
Send us a message with your location and how you are handling the current situation!


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CHICAGO — This city's first small-format Walmart Express store opened last week in the Chatham neighborhood, marking a significant new step in the retail giant's push into more urban areas.
The opening comes shortly after Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores teamed with First Lady Michelle Obama and a handful of other retailers in a pledge to increase access to affordable fresh foods in underserved communities, a move that drew a critical response from union officials.
The 10,000-square-foot Chatham store, one of nine Wal-Mart locations planned for Chicago, includes a wide selection of groceries as well as a pharmacy and a financial services desk center. It is the first urban test for the new small format, which debuted in rural Arkansas and North Carolina earlier this year. Local reports said additional Walmart Express stores are planned for the eastern North Carolina towns of Snow Hill and Ayden.
According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, the Chicago location dedicates about two-thirds of its space to grocery items, and locates the pharmacy near the front of the store. At the back are 47 frozen and refrigerated doors and a 10-door beverage cooler, the report said. The store will employ 20-40 people, Crain's reported.
Three additional Express stores, plus three Walmart Market stores — more like an average supermarket in size — and two supercenters are on tap for Chicago.
Separately, in a letter published last week in the New York Times, Joseph Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, criticized the White House's recognition of Wal-Mart's plan to open stores in food deserts.
“The White House's decision to pay tribute to Wal-Mart for agreeing to open or expand stores in areas designated as ‘food deserts’ was misguided,” Hansen wrote.
He went on to write that Wal-Mart “has a history of destroying good jobs in the communities it enters and creating jobs that perpetuate the cycle of poverty — leaving more workers unable to buy healthy food for their families.”
Additional reporting by Michael Garry


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All over the country are looking forward to a day off on Thursday and a weekend shopping. It resulted in relatively quiet trading on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite recovered from recent losses with a modest gain of around 0.2 percent.
Many traditional retailers have been under much pressure this week. However, things have never looked better for some companies in the e-commerce world. In particular, shares of Etsy and Global-e Online were both up on Wednesday afternoon. Hence investors are hoping that what the two companies have done so far is just the start of a much longer growth surge. In more detail below, we’ll go over what’s causing these two stocks to move on the day before Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday afternoon, Etsy’s stock was up nearly 7%. The craft and the homemade-goods market received positive feedback from a couple of Wall Street analysts, which boosted interest in its stock. Citi analysts were the first to weigh in, increasing their price target on Etsy by $75 to $320 per share. Citi reiterated its buy rating on the stock, saying that even as shoppers begin to change their behavior in response to continued progress in combating the pandemic, Etsy has been able to generate valuable brand awareness. Furthermore, Citi expects investors to reward Etsy with higher valuations as it demonstrates its ability to continue growing revenue.
Analysts have high hopes for e-commerce in general. With traditional retailers facing supply chain challenges, Etsy sellers’ more organic production should advantage the marketplace.
Global-e makes a deal
Shares of Global-e Online, on the other hand, were up an even more impressive 15%. The e-commerce firm made a strategic acquisition that has shareholders excited about the company’s future.
Global-e announced the acquisition of Flow Commerce, a provider of e-commerce software for cross-border transactions from emerging brand-name companies. The company believes that making the purchase will provide some small-business customers access to Global-e-services that they could not previously use. Significantly, the transaction may help Global-relationship e’s with Shopify, and Global-e has issued a warrant for a $70 million investment from Shopify at its discretion.
Global-e will pay $500 million in cash and stock for Flow. Performance-based warrants could result in an additional $45 million in potential stock compensation. The deal expects to close in the first quarter of 2022.
Get the latest economy news, trading news, and Forex news on Finance Brokerage. Check out our comprehensive trading education and list of best Forex brokers list here. If you are interested in following the latest news on the topic, please follow Finance Brokerage on Google News.


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DALLAS, Aug. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — A major online retailer announced last week that it was launching initiatives to give returned electronics a second chance at being sold by online sellers instead of forcing them to the scrap heap. The move comes after a report by British ITV that the retailer previously prohibited the returned products being sold on its platform and that the company simply destroyed the products.
What the online giant has overlooked is something smaller and more environmentally conscious businesses have adopted and practiced for years– selling returns online is an excellent way to support the circular economy. However, the retailer is still overlooking an important step in closing the loop on the circular economy.
“Selling as-is goods on online platforms can result in more damage to the circular economy than good as it can result in further returns and the potential for defective hardware to be improperly disposed of,” said Craig Boswell, CEO of D2C+, an online direct-to-consumer retailer of used mobile devices.
D2C+ has pioneered and demonstrated a process for maximizing return value with expertise in efficient testing, grading, and multi-platform listing. The company leverages sophisticated systems for proper testing, grading, and repairs to meet varying online retail platform requirements.
Rather than list inventory and sell on a single sales channel, such as Amazon, D2C+ achieves its high sales volumes using a multi-platform sales solution. Maximizing that return requires a thorough understanding of the listing nuances of the various platforms and the ability to provide as much information as possible on the used device.
“You can’t just list it as-is across multiple platforms and expect it to sell,” said Boswell. “Consumers are smart and sophisticated and want to have confidence in the product they are purchasing.”
D2C+ views the key backbone of its sales success as marketplace integration. D2C+ uses an internally developed proprietary software called AMP, which allows products to be listed across multiple sales channels within three days of onboarding. AMP recognizes the critical product data elements for achieving maximum sales. The software quickly relays diagnostic data into supply chain systems, assigns SKUs, generates purchase orders, manages exception handling, and more.
“The future of the circular economy when it comes to processing returns is centered on sophisticated solutions that deliver quality products to consumers worldwide in an efficient manner,” said Scott Walker, president of D2C+.
D2C+ originated as an online retail company in 2018 with more than 72,000 units sold and shipped in its first year. The company’s rapid ascent as an online reseller led to a rebranding as D2C+ in 2020 to offer more robust value-added solutions for companies struggling to monetize their excess inventory and consumer returns. D2C+ enables traditional wholesalers to quickly and responsibly engage with the growing consumer demand for circular economy products.
The company developed a proprietary inventory management and sales tool called AMP to provide a turnkey solution to facilitate lightning-fast product listings, sales, and order fulfillment across multiple international online sales platforms. Using AMP, the company has sold more than 150,000 pre-owned devices since beginning operations in 2018, marking D2C+ as the undisputed leader in the pre-owned sales space. The company uses 15 different sales platforms and has fulfilled and shipped orders to more than 30 different countries.
For more information about how D2C+ can help your company with a scalable and read-to-go solution for your pre-owned electronics inventory, visit https://d2cplusllc.com.
Mike Blankenship, D2C+, +1 (214) 888-6607, email@example.com
The content is by PR Newswire. Headlines of Today Media is not responsible for the content provided or any links related to this content. Headlines of Today Media is not responsible for the correctness, topicality or the quality of the content.


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Dash is ranked at #15, ahead of Tezos and Chainlink on coinmarketcap. Popularly known as “Digital Cash”, DASH had a minor boost rate of 0.35% in the course of the past few hours. The trading volume recorded is $134.278 million, whereas the supply has 8,984,468 DASH coins in play. The total market cap of Dash is $836.756 million. At present, DASH is priced at $93.13.
Para presentar al usuario la experiencia #cripto, los teléfonos KRIP vienen con app @UpholdInc para adquirir criptomonedas como Dash y, la cartera de @Dashpay y una pequeña cantidad de Dash en una billetera de papel. #KRIP #smartphone #Venezuela #Colombia #Ecuador#EEUU pic.twitter.com/OggyXAiwOd
— Kripto Mobile (@KriptoMobile) August 16, 2019
Kripto Mobiles had recently partnered up with Dash. The official Dash wallet has NFC features for receiving DASH. Contactless payments for Dash is bound to aid in adoption and price rise, if considered by the developers. Dash already has the InstaSend feature, but this would help in making the whole experience of payments a lot smoother.
Check out this video on Reddit which shows instant contactless payments with NANO [via the Natrium wallet and Kappture Point-of-sale device]. NANO is ranked at #44 in the market and is currently priced at $1.01.
The Dash Podcast 117 was uploaded 17 hours ago. This time, Omer Batan, the Founder of Dash Embassy Turkey was interviewed. Watch the full video spanning over an hour right here:
Having a base in this Middle-Eastern nation is crucial as Turkey houses a huge number of pro-bitcoin citizens. They have a larger ration of optimistic folks in comparison to the United Kingdom or the U.S.A.
Erdogan, the country’s leader is not on good terms with the POTUS. They had just purchased a lot of S-400 missile systems from Russia, and Trump wasn’t happy. Sanctions imposed push the two NATO allies further apart. In the midst of this, pro-blockchain regulations will help the tourism industry in Turkey prosper and bring in modernization for its citizens.


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Creative Intelligence Arts have today proudly boasted that their upcoming Japanese indie RPG project Project Phoenix currently being crowdfunded through Kickstarter has reached its $650,000 stretch goal.
This latest successful milestone will allow the development team to produce a detailed city system, giving gamers the opportunity to explore the game’s cities in greater detail and they hope yielding a more immerse experience as gamers get to know a city’s character on a more personal level. Furthermore, players will be able to create customized characters, giving them a greater degree of flexibility and allowing them to put their own personal touch when forming their squads for battle.
While it may not affect this sites English reading audience, the development team have confirmed that a German localization team has been established, with team members having had their hands in localizing video games and anime such as Xenoblade Chronicles, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure in the past.
Only eight more days remain for the Project Phoenix Kickstarter campaign and they currently have a total of $696,666 pledged. Question is… will they manage to hit the next $800,000 stretch goal in this time?


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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. --
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune’s commissary recently received a unique distinction for its service to the base community. The commissary was nominated for the “best superstore” competition, which pits various stores from around the world against each other.
MCB Camp Lejeune’s commissary will compete against other superstores in the U.S. The store received numerous “noteworthy performance” awards over the years, said Michael Dunn, the commissary’s director, who has worked for the store aboard MCB Camp Lejeune for eight years now, but this is the first time the store was able to nab a spot in the superstore competition.
“It’s a highlight,” said Dunn. “It’s a very high distinction to be selected. It means that your sales are doing great and your inventory is good. All the figures they use are (hitting the mark).”
There are around 30 superstores serving the military communities worldwide. MCB Camp Lejeune’s commissary will compete with other stores catering to people in the U.S., and it is the only store nominated from the eastern region for the superstore category.
The store has improved in its sales and inventory, giving it that extra boost needed to make it into the competition. In fact, the commissary aboard MCB Camp Lejeune has been quite fortunate, said Dunn. The larger the store, the harder it is to meet the criteria for the competition. The commissary’s inventory, a prime factor in the competition, is the best it’s been in years and the sales numbers are also up.
“We have anything from the relatively inexpensive up to some of the premium items,” said Dunn. “With the military, it’s so much different because it’s not like a retail store with a select clientele. In the military, we’ve got anybody from anywhere.”
It takes a team to put up the numbers seen at MCB Camp Lejeune’s commissary. Superstores often bring in more than $4 million per month. A combination of commissary employees and contract workers help fulfill the labor needs for such an operation.
Contract employees help with things such as stocking and some of the special services provided at the commissary. The sushi sold at the store is one of the many services they provide. Dunn also has a team of around 90 commissary employees. The store also has baggers, many of whom are military retirees and dependents, but not paid by the commissary. Rather, they’re pay comes from the tips provided by patrons.
It’s pretty much a 24-hour process, said Dunn. The commissary is technically only closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
It all comes as a service to the military community. Commissaries date back to the days of the western frontier. While the military has long since set aside its spurs, the commissary still brings a taste of home to service members, their families and retirees around the world. What is more, the commissary does not function for profit.
“We’re selling at cost,” said Dunn. “This is a benefit for the military.”


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Speakers at a view-exchange meeting urged the authorities concerned to take measures so that prices of the essentials remain at a tolerable level in the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.
Leaders of the kitchen markets and different business communities pledged to sell the essential commodities at fair prices.
They also told the meeting that they will also monitor the kitchen markets before and after the Ramadan.
With Khulna deputy commissioner (DC) Khondokar Yasir Arefin in the chair, representatives of Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), President and General Secretaries of different kitchen markets and shopping malls, law enforcement agencies, government officials and journalists, among others, were present in the meeting.
The meeting also decided that beef will be sold at Tk 700 per kg while mutton will be sold at Taka 950. Chicken especially broiler will be sold at reasonable price.
The DC informed the meeting that mobile courts have already started monitoring the kitchen markets against price hike and food adulteration.
The government has taken necessary steps for increasing the imports of consumer goods to stabilize the market with sufficient supply during the month of holy Ramadan, he said.
Besides, the government has instructed the respective people to ease the opening Letters of Credit (LCs) for essential commodities in order to keep their prices at a tolerable level during the Ramadan going to begin on March 23 or 24.
Ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, essential products are available at market as LCs have been opened recently, said Gopi Kishan Mundra, Vice-President of KCCI in Khulna.
While talking to BSS, several wholesalers of Khulna said, prices of some essential products have decreased due to its huge imports.
The law enforcement agencies have also been instructed to monitor and ensure reasonable prices of essential commodities.
The government has already taken food friendly programs including, OMS and TCB, for low-income people, the DC added.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha


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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — John Martens watched intently as artist Richard Deutsch applied the patina to a bronze sculpture being installed at the Neiman Marcus store here.
The piece, “Five Elements,’’ comprises quarter-moon shaped pieces balancing each other. It seemed a fitting symbol to conclude Martens’ 25-year run as vice president and general manager, overseeing the intricate mix of 400 employees, 180,000 square feet of retail space and discerning customers. He must have been doing something right. As Martens retired Thursday, the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus was the luxury chain’s best in terms of sales.
“His contribution has been almost legendary,’’ Burt Tansky, president and chief executive officer of the Neiman Marcus Group, said in an interview. “He’s built the business and provided a high level of customer service, and exceeded expectations in what customers have come to know and expect from Neiman Marcus.’’
During his tenure, the store has introduced designer shops, expanded the reach of smaller, specialty luxury brands such as Loro Piana and Malo and made a name as a must-shop destination for high-end intimate apparel and its vast collection of designer shoes.
“The ladies shoe salon to me is a real gem,” said Martens, who handpicks shoes from designers such as Manolo Blahnik to bring home to his wife, Bridget (size seven). “I’ve always been particularly proud of it.
“I also think we have raised our standards by eliminating the sale of bridge designers,” he said. “We’re in a very competitive market with formidable competition and well-traveled clients who fly to Paris and Milan at the drop of a hat.”
Martens, a South African native, began his career with Neiman Marcus 30 years ago when merchant king Stanley Marcus poached him from his position as general manager of Stuattaford & Co., a South African department store. After a three-year stint in Texas, Martens became the vice president and general manager at the St. Louis store, and transferred to Beverly Hills in 1980.
He still addresses customers formally as he greets them in his standard uniform of a dark suit.
Donnie Smith, a Beverly Hills resident and socialite who has been both a customer and vendor at the store, described Martens as “charming, debonair and always elegant.”
Martens has “taken what is a big corporate store and made it feel like it’s your neighborhood place to shop,” Smith said. “He is a real gentleman and sets the standard for everyone.”
And he takes matters such as housekeeping seriously.
“I like a beautifully presented, clean store,” said Martens. But it’s the the interaction with the staff, which begins as he starts his morning tour through the kitchen, and customers that he said he will miss most.
“I’m what you call a floor person…because the floor is where our business is done,” Martens said.
Despite his formality, Martens, who is being replaced by Kelly Cole, has an affinity for denim, something that would likely surprise customers. Although Martens admits that at his age — ever discreet, he won’t reveal it — he can’t get away with wearing denim in quite the way the younger set does.
Earlier this week, the staff surprised Martens by toasting him with a bottle of Cristal and leading him to new window displays facing Wilshire Boulevard that are dedicated to him. They feature a poster-size black-and-white photo of Martens along with crisp, black-and-white fashions from designers such as Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, Jean Paul Gaultier and others Martens has been instrumental in bringing to the store.
So, could there be a book in Martens’ future?
“It’s a possibility after I thaw out a bit,’’ he said. “Although I have a few stories that people would definitely not like if I told.”


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Hyderabad: With increasing reliance on internet banking and payment through cards, there is a spurt in cyber crimes and as per available data, Telangana occupies fourth rank in the country in these new and emerging crimes. Cybercrimes, as per the State Crime Records Bureau, can take place against a person, against a technology, or against a property. While transmitting obscene content or stalking using a computer or internet falls under cyber crimes against a person, hacking, virus attacks, and worm attacks come under crimes against technology. And cyber crimes against property include computer piracy and phishing.
The Cybercrime police particularly warn of potential threats due to phishing, as the trend has gaining alarming proportions. Phishing is a fraudulent process used to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity. Senior officials of the cybercrime department suggest following a few simple steps to steer clear of potential cyber attacks related to online transactions. U Ram Mohan, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crimes, suggest that credit cards are not be used for online payments except for POS purchases. “Credit cards should not be used especially while ordering items from abroad as the transaction doesn’t warrant any authentication using a one-time password (OTP), so the same saved details can be used by fraudulent persons and make transactions on your name,” he says.
He also advises to erase off CVV number present behind the credit card so that one can refrain from using the card. However, he suggests that credit cards can be used for offline payments made by swiping. The pin numbers of debit cards must be changed on a regular basis. “Skimming and card cloning are possible in ATM centres, in some cases, hidden cameras are also mounted on machines to capture your card details. So, it is advisable to frequently change ATM pins,” Ram Mohan points out.
He adds that only the helpline number present behind the card must be used in case of any complaint, as there is a possibility of popping up of bogus helpline number on your bank name if you search online. On phishing, the officer says that no bank makes a call and ask for OTP or card details. “Do not share your security credentials online,” he says. Once the OTP is shared, there is no way the lost amount can be recovered, unlike credit card frauds where money up to Rs 1 lakh can be recovered on filing a complaint within three days with the bank and the nearest police station. For security questions, the officer recommends the use of answers that are not factual and could be guessed by others.


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Tag: Business News
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today reported earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 28, 2019. Whilst attendance may have been down at the parks, it would seem that we all spent more!
The Entertainer are bucking high street trends with rising sales and profits.
Following the departure of Catherine Powell as President of Disney Parks West, the Walt Disney Company have named new leadership for Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris.
George Lucas didn't hide his feelings about The Force Awakens, and now four years later Disney CEO Bob Iger has relived Lucas' disappointment in his autobiographical memoir, released Monday.
In a interview published this weekend in the New York Times, Bog Iger admitted that may have overextended the Star Wars franchise, possibly being too ambitious after the acquisition of Lucasfilm.
The LEGO Group and musician Mark Ronson launch Rebuild The World, a campaign to help nurture the creative skills of the next generation.
Bad news for GameStop employees and fans, as between 180 to 200 under-performing store will close by the end of the year due to a larger than expected drop in sales.
On the same day as Apple revealed their streaming option in the form of Apple TV+, Bob Iger resigned from their board of directors in order to avoid a conflict with Disney's own streaming service, Disney+.
The latest figures from the NPD Group show that retail sales of toys in the US reached $21.6 billion in 2018, down two per cent from the $22 billion in 2017.


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Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion Gallery Debut
10.04.04 - 2:16 PM
A couple weeks ago Square Enix announced their newest MMORPG in production known as Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion for the PC. Today we bring you 10 screen shots of the game in action, along with two poster-style pieces of artwork.
Fantasy Earth's release date for both Japan and the US has yet to be announced.


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LAREDO, TX (KGNS) - With the official start of Spring right around the corner, many might be looking to invest in their home as part of Spring Cleaning.
Many often times, homeowners are not experts on repairs or renovations, so they ask an expert for help.
The Better Business Bureau is encouraging homeowners to do their research before you hire a contractor to do the job.
Experts also recommend to get everything and writing and make sure you read the fine print.
If you feel like you have been scammed you can contact the Better Business Bureau or even local authorities.


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A video showing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos being heckled by a couple in the street has gone viral online, but their choice of comments has divided users on Reddit.
The clip first appeared on TikTok, after being posted by user @bat_rat_cat, before it was taken down twice for allegedly violating its policy on bullying.
In the footage, the billionaire can be seen walking on the pavement before the pair sitting at a table address him.
“Hey Jeff, do you feel bad when your Amazon workers die in the warehouse sometimes,” asked a man behind the camera, to which Bezos gave him eye contact before looking away and walking towards his car.
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In the video from July 2021, A woman on camera added: “Hey Jeff, nice lazy eye. I wish money could fix that!”
As the world’s third richest man – according to Forbes’ real-time billionaire’s list – Bezos continues to face public scrutiny over his finances and Amazon’s working conditions.
In April last year, Amazon had to issue an apology to US Democrat Mark Pocan after they denied his claims that workers have been forced to urinate in bottles during their shifts.
@repmarkpocan 1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would wor… https://t.co/gDke8HPsPI
— Amazon News (@Amazon News)
“This was an own goal, we’re unhappy about it, and we owe an apology to Representative Pocan … The tweet was incorrect,” it reads.
Elsewhere, the BBC said in May 2021 that Amazon planned to introduce “wellness chambers” into its warehouse to benefit the mental health of stressed-out workers. A month later, ITV News revealed that the online retailer trashes millions of unsold stock in one UK warehouse every year.
So naturally, if you wanted to criticise Bezos, then there’s plenty of ammunition available – though Reddit users are torn on whether this particular American couple chose wisely.
“Eh, that woman’s comment is sh**ty. F**k her for saying that instead of saying something meaningful about his greed,” wrote one.
Another commented: “Ok, cmon… If you’re going to criticize someone criticize their views or actions, not their bodies.”
“Wow… making fun of a disability is the hallmark of a horrible person,” said a third.
Others, meanwhile, have argued that the comment on Bezos’ appearance is justified.
“Nah, it’s really not. F**k Jeff. I’m so tired of this attitude that we need to be nice to bad people. He is a horrible person and deserves to be made fun of,” said one.
A different commenter wrote: “It is in bad taste to make fun of appearance, but the man lets THOUSANDS of workers suffer through company policies, so, by all means, make fun of his lazy eye, baldness, height, anything really. It’s not an a-hole move if it’s a greedy billionaire.”
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the rankings.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Fry's eats scrambled Egghead
Titsup.com Part 94
Californian e-tailer Egghead.com is to sell up after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The dotcom, which flogged IT-related products, issued a statement yesterday saying it would sell its Web site and other assets to the US retail chain Fry's Electronics.
It has laid off 185 employees as a result of the move. This leaves it with 130 staff, compared to the workforce of 500 it supported five months ago.
Egghead is to continue trading under bankruptcy court supervision until the sale - which is expected by the end of next month. San Jose-based Fry's is then expected to operate the Egghead.com site.
Egghead CEO Jeff Sheahan said the move was the result of a "dramatic and unexpected" drop in sales in recent weeks, which made it impossible for the company to drag itself into the black in its fourth quarter.
Once upon a time, Egghead was America's biggest IT retailer. In 1998, after falling flat on its face with this business, it announced its intention to set up as a pure play Internet retailer.
This is what we wrote at the time: "Egghead.com Inc. - as it is now wants to be called - is a company that has lost its way. Instead of wasting shareholder funds in a desperate attempt to reinvent the firm, Egghead’s managers should saddle up and move on." ®


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According to The Verge, who has received the below image of a leaked internal AT&T document, the carrier will establish a database of stolen phones to prevent them from gaining carrier access.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Amazon is collaborating with Foxconn – Apple’s major manufacturing partner – to produce a smartphone intended to compete with the iPhone and Android-based devices.
In May it was reported that Apple was testing improvements and additions to the web-based desktop version of their iCloud services. Today, Apple has added functionality to the leaked developer portal that was previously discovered (beta.icloud.com).
As announced by Apple over a year ago, prior to the public release of iCloud and iOS 5, their MobileMe web service has officially closed. Customers will no longer be able to store their data and files in Apple’s pre-iCloud remote storage service.
Welcome to the ninety-fourth episode of my series entitled BestTechInfo and Rumors! In this episode I discuss the new 3rd-generation iPad giveaway I’m holding, Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, iOS 6 beta 2, Apple’s wireless charging patent and more.
Earlier today, the developers of BlueStacks App Player released the alpha utility for OS X-based computers that enables them to run apps intended for Google’s Android mobile operating system. Demonstrated over a year ago, BlueStacks promised OS X and Windows users alike the ability to run virtually any Android app on…
Developed by Apple and demonstrated at the main keynote presentation during this year’s World Wide Developers Conference event, Passbook is a native iOS 6 (Apple’s next major update to their mobile operating system) app that acts as a “virtual wallet”.
According to PatentlyApple, several new patents filed by Apple were approved today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. While the majority of the 27 patents look fairly routine and bland, one stands out and appears rather intriguing.


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In September 2016, Apple has begun testing a new technology for collecting user data, and now are introducing it in their new products. Reported by analysts LeapYear Technologies. Technology solves the pressing problem: to obtain data about the users, not spying on them. To blur personal data, the technology adds the analyzed data to the statistical noise.
Modern analysis tools are able to find relationships in large databases. Therefore, they are able to identify where the need for anonymity. This worries experts. For example, two years ago, researchers at mit have discovered that it is possible to identify buyers of shops, linking accounts social networking with credit cards or shopping.
“People have no idea how easily their data can cease to be anonymous” – says the founder of a startup LeapYear Technologies, Iskhan of Nerurkar.
A year ago, this term was known only to scientists, but today is it used by Microsoft and Uber. So companies can create their products and to analyze the data, but not tying them to specific people.
Previously, Apple has analysed how people use emojis and slang on the iPhone. Now the Corporation is trying to obtain more data on the health status of the user and visited their web pages, said software engineer Apple, Kate Skinner. Differential privacy Apple already protects millions of records, which it receives from Apple computers, iPhone and iPad.


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If you have a Sony Reader, you have a lot of reading to catch up on. Sony Electronics has struck a deal with Google to distribute half a million titles through the Sony eBook Store — for free.
The books, all published before 1923 and now in the public domain, were digitized by Google as part of its Google Book Search program. Sony will offer them alongside the 100,000 or so books still under copyright that it sells through its eBook store.
It’s already possible to download public domain books from Google Book Search as PDF files and copy them onto a flash memory card for use in e-readers such as Sony’s, but this partnership will simplify the process for users by integrating it into the eBook Library Software for PCs that ships with the Sony Reader.
The service won’t give Reader owners free access to the much greater number of books still in copyright, many of which Google Book Search has already digitized, however.
To access the public domain books, owners of Sony’s PRS-505 or PRS-700 readers will need to install the PC software and create an account on the eBook Store if they don’t already have one. Owners of the older PRS-500 are out of luck, though: the service won’t work with that device.
The expanded library won’t address one key difference between the Sony Reader and Amazon’s Kindle e-readers: the Amazon devices don’t need to be tethered to a PC to download and install new books. Instead, the Kindles download books over the air via Sprint Nextel’s 3G (third generation) mobile network. However, the wireless technology Amazon has chosen for the Kindle — and the Kindle 2, released Feb. 9 — is little used outside the U.S., and is incompatible with mobile networks in Europe and most of Asia.
That leaves an opening for other e-reader manufacturers to provide devices that work with European mobile networks, perhaps linking to other online bookstores. Dutch company Endless Ideas is planning just that with the next version of its BeBook e-reader. It showed a prototype of the device at Cebit, but the new model was absent from its small stand at the Paris Book Fair last week, where Sony had a major presence.
Google’s partnership with Sony is not the first time it has simplified access to Google Book Search for mobile devices. On Feb. 6 it opened up the service to the Apple iPhone and to phones based on the Android software platform it backs. The phone interface offers access to more public domain books than Sony’s eBook Store: up to 1.5 million in the U.S. and 500,000 elsewhere, according to Google. Amazon followed suit, after a fashion, on March 4, with the launch of an iPhone reader for e-books sold through its Kindle service.


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PG Tips to launch Monkey’s Monumental Mission as Red Nose Day 2015 activity
Monday January 12, 2015 at 11:17am
Unilever-owned tea brand PG Tips is to launch its 2015 Red Nose Day activity later this month, and has started trailing the campaign on its website. The promotion linked will be called Monkey’s Monumental Mission, and will see the tea brand donate 8p to Comic Relief, the charity behind Red Nose Day, for every special promotional pack of PG Tips sold. PG Tips is currently running a ‘making of’ video about the ad for the new campaign which is viewable at rednoseday.pgtips.co.uk. According to this site, packs will go in store this month (January 2015) with the campaign launching on February 3. Monkey, the brand character who fronts PG Tips’ advertising and marketing, is actually owned by Comic Relief and used by PG Tips under license. Comic Relief has the rights to Monkey as the result of a legal settlement over ownership of the character between the receivers of ITV Digital, the digital pay TV channel which shut in March 2002. Monkey was created by advertising agency Mother and made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (responsible for The Muppets) for ITV Digital’s advertising campaign, which also featured his partner Al, a character played by comedian Johnny Vegas. Subscribers were rewarded with plush Monkey toys, which now fetch up to £100 on eBay in mint condition. Monkey was one of the channel’s few valuable assets, and became the subject of a year-long legal battle which was ended in February 2003 when both parties (Mother and the receivers) agreed to sign over rights to Comic Relief. The character then made a couple of appearances on TV and was the lead character in an as yet un-aired BBC variety show before being reunited with Johnny Vegas in a TV ad for PG Tips in 2007.


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Samsung Employs its V-NAND Tech for Gaming NVMe SSD
Designed for gaming and creative applications, Samsung’s new SSD leverages its latest V-NAND technology.
Among the computing applications enjoyed by the everyday consumer, gaming is one of the most popular and also one of the most computationally intensive. For this reason, many of the advances in computing that come along in the news are focused on gaming, where innovation in products like GPUs and memory technology is driving improved performance.
This week, Samsung has continued that trend with the release of a new family of NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs) that is optimized for gaming and creative applications.
Optimized for gaming, the 990 PRO is an NVMe SSD based on PCIe 4.0. Image used courtesy of Samsung
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the underlying technologies as well as the details of Samsung’s new SSD.
V-NAND Uses Vertical Dimension
For most SSD technologies, the memory architecture of choice is NAND flash, which is physically small as well as offers extremely fast write speeds. However, historically flash memory solutions were designed to store data in a two-dimensional structure, where NAND flash chips were laid out horizontally next to each other and scaled out in either width or length. chips were scaled and laid onto flat surfaces.
This trend continued for a number of decades until recently the 2D architecture has started to reach some significant limitations that are preventing further scaling. Specifically, as the distance between NAND cells decreases, current leakages on the transistors also increases. For this reason, NAND flash manufacturers have been limited in traditional scaling, unable to go much lower than 13 nm without sacrificing performance.
2D planar NAND vs. 3D V-NAND. Image used courtesy of Samsung
To resolve this issue, Samsung invented what it calls vertical-NAND (V-NAND) flash memory. Unlike traditional 2D NAND architecture, V-NAND is a three-dimensional architecture in which NAND layers are stacked vertically on top of one another and connected in a layer-by-layer fashion. While many other companies use this technology today under different names (for instance, 3D NAND), Samsung claims to be the inventor and pioneer in the field.
Now, Samsung is preparing for mass production of its 8th generation of V-NAND, which features over 200 layers of stacked NAND cells and brings with it significant improvements in density, efficiency, and performance.
Samsung’s V-NAND-based 990 Pro SSD
Making use of its V-NAND technology, this week the release of a new family of NVMe SSDs based on PCIe 4.0. Called the 990 PRO SSD, the new product family is said to have been designed specifically for gaming and creative applications and comes with impressive specifications to this end.
Built on Samsung’s latest V-NAND technology, and closely coupled with a new proprietary memory controller, the 990 PRO series is said to offer the highest PCIe speed possible, achieving 7,450 MB/s sequential read speed out of the theoretical maximum of 8000 MB/s.
At the same time, the 990 PRO SSDs claim a 55% improvement in random performance over the previous generation offering. To quantify this, Samsung tells us that the 990 PRO achieves random read speeds up to 1,400K IOPS (I/O operations per second) and random write speeds up to 1,550K IOPS.
The 990 PRO family comes with a smart thermal solution. Image used courtesy of Samsung
As a whole, the family will feature a maximum capacity of 4 TB along with 4GB of LPDDR4 DRAM, and will be priced at $309 for the 2TB model. According to Samsung, in gaming-related tests of the 990 PRO, they found map loading times to be 4x faster than SATA SSD offerings and 28x faster than hard disk drive solutions. At the same time, the device claims a 50% improved performance per watt of the previous generation, claiming a 1,319 MB/W performance.


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Jordan Brand is loving the ladies and children this year, as they’ve continued to drop some pretty cool colorways for GS sizes only. Fresh on the heels of the recent release of the Air Jordan 13 Retro GS ‘Hyper Pink’, the Spizike is up next to receive the ‘Hyper Pink’ treatment. The shoe is outfitted with a slightly similar blend of white, black, and hyper pink colors that are featured on the AJ13 ‘Hyper Pink’. The biggest difference is that the Spizike has a white leather upper, with cool grey accents on the side and heel. The standard cement print overlays are also found on the toe and heel paneling.
The Air Jordan Spizike GS “Hyper Pink” is set to release on December 3rd, 2014 at select Jordan Brand retailers. They will retail for $125 and will also be available in preschool and toddler sizes.
Jordan Spizike GS
White/Hyper Pink-Black-Cool Grey
December 3, 2014


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The Samsung and Apple disputes under legal proceedings is far from taking a break, with the latest turntable showing that the Supreme Court has had a change of heart and decided to favor Samsung over Apple in the latest chapter of the iPhone design patents.
Lower Court Decided That Damages Will Be Paid to Apple – Supreme Court Sides With Samsung Afterwards
Before the Supreme Court decided to make their own decision, a lower court spearheaded the verdict and stated that $399 million in damages will be given to Apple by Samsung regarding patent violations. According to the violations, Samsung’s early lineup of Galaxy smartphones borrowed some features from Apple’s iPhone, resulting in such legal proceedings taking place. However, Apple’s short-lived parade was cut short with the intervention of the Supreme Court, which sided with Samsung’s counter that an article of manufacture could be the component of a device, but not the device as a whole.
Unfortunately for Apple, the Supreme Court did not make a decision on whether or not Samsung’s design infringements were a component or the whole device. This turn of events means that the total damages amount will have to be revisited by the lower court, which will then decide what is going to be the outcome of the infringement case. To take you down memory lane, the case started out in Apple’s favor, with a whopping $1 billion USD being owed to the Cupertino tech giant.
The current ruling followed a monumental legal battle that took place between the two tech behemoths back in 2011. Apple sued Samsung, stating that its biggest rival in the smartphone industry stole its technology. It was one of the most closely witnessed patent cases to come to the U.S. court in recent years, and it looks like the ultimate decision is yet to be made.


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TravelPerk's valuation tops $1 billion partly because its per-trip costs are five times lower than those of traditional travel management companies, according to its chief commercial officer.
"TripActions and TravelPerk are measured like Software-as-a-Service companies, such as Workday, Slack or Zendesk, and not like an Amex or a more traditional travel company," said TravelPerk CCO Jean-Christophe Taunay-Bucalo during a Wednesday phone interview. "The market considers that, in business travel, you’re going to have a few big winners that make a lot of money in the same way this happened . . .


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Parliament on Thursday voted through a bill that would allow the government to order price caps for petroleum products, and passed a bill to eliminate VAT on fuel and electricity bills by the end of the year. ..
A price cap bill submitted by its main opponent, Akel, allows the Minister of Energy and Commerce to issue legislation that specifies the maximum retail and wholesale prices for petroleum products. Domestic and international situation. “
The new law also gives the Minister the discretion to set a threshold for the maximum gross profit of companies trading these products.
Ministers can intervene in the market whenever the global economic situation is disrupted and is affecting the supply chain of certain products or raw materials.
In addition, the House of Representatives has passed a government bill that allows the Ministry of Commerce to cap prices on important items such as bread, water, Cyprus coffee, wheat and corn.
Also on Thursday, MPs voted through two legislation aimed at providing relief to consumers in the current inflation spiral.
One of the bills does not impose VAT on fuel products until the end of the year. On the other hand, the VAT on electricity prices will be reduced to zero as well.
Earlier this week, the state power company confirmed that the next electricity bill would be about 25 percent higher than the previous batch.
The Cyprus Department of Electricity said the cost of fuel currently purchased for power generation has doubled since a year ago.
https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/07/14/cap-on-fuel-prices-freeze-on-vat/ Fuel price cap, VAT freeze


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The marketing landscape is changing at a breakneck pace and a new report finds marketing departments are beginning to reflect the shifting priorities within their teams. In fact, more than one-third of enterprise companies (38 percent) have restructured their marketing department to take on new marketing challenges.
The report, “A Study in Brand Transformation,” by Skyword and Researchscape International included 190 B2C and B2B enterprise marketing leaders across 40 industries.
The results revealed that technology is playing the biggest role in the future of marketing as nearly 60 percent of respondents adopted a new technology in the past year.
Additionally, 27 percent of respondents use anywhere between 4 and 10 technologies (21 percent use more than 11). Design software (52 percent), social media monitoring (51 percent) and analytics (47 percent) topped the list of most used tools.
The survey also uncovered a trend toward increased content marketing – 40 percent reported expanding their content marketing efforts over the last year. Video was the top content category at 49 percent, followed by blog posts (45 percent) and mobile applications (41 percent). Interactive and visual content – webinars, photography, infographics – also made the top 10.
More traditional marketing content, such as e-books and whitepapers, were not among the top 10 tactics, the survey revealed.
“The research results show that marketers are laying the foundation of digital transformation. They are just beginning to shift their resources away from traditional interruptive marketing to sustained storytelling and publishing,” said Patricia Travaline, CMO of Skyword.
This shift is also reflected in the composition of marketing teams. About 30 percent of marketing teams included in-house roles like editor, content marketer, and copywriter.
Content Programs Are Expanding
This new report echoes recent research by Marketwired that indicated 64 percent of marketing and public relations professionals intend to increase their efforts in content marketing in the coming year. Already, the survey found, 79 percent had a content marketing program in place.
The most commonly employed content tactics were blog posts (55 percent), photos (29 percent) and news releases (24 percent), the research revealed. About 77 percent stated that they believe in the importance of measuring their content efforts.


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Since Sunday, scores of shoppers in West Bloomfield's Orchard Mall were treated to the sights and sounds of Chanukah Wonderland, virtual Chanukah experience for children, teens and adults.
That included the dozens of third graders from Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills, and their parent chaperones, who took a special field trip Wednesday morning. Students ate traditional sufganiot, decorate wooden dreidels and other crafts and played. They also visited the Olive Press Project, an interactive exhibit where they saw how olive oil was extracted from raw olives during the Temple period.
The Bais Chabad Torah Center in West Bloomfield sponsors the three-day tribute to the eight-day Jewish holiday, one of the most widely-celebrated holidays and a favorite amongst children.


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Work-From-Home Scam Costs Byron Woman Thousands
Byron, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Byron woman is out nearly $4,000 after she reportedly fell victim to a work-from-home scam.
Olmsted County Sheriff’s Lt. Lee Rossman said the apparent scam began when the woman was offered a remote work position on LinkedIn from a Florida-based company called Exactech. The woman told a sheriff’s deputy she received two checks totaling $4,500 and was instructed to send money to the company to cover the costs of remote-work supplies.
The victim reported sending a $2,000 payment through the money app Zelle and sharing the information from a $1,700 American Express cash card with the apparent scammer. The woman then learned $4,500 in checks she received were fakes, according to Rossman.
Rossman said investigators contacted Exactech and were informed the woman does not work for the company and that the company’s name has been used to conduct similar scams.


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Here in the eBay State; Fun, bargains from the dusts of time.
COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION
Massachusetts has a modern solution to an old problem: unclaimed
items in forgotten safe deposit boxes.
Starting Saturday, goods will be sold on eBay to the highest
This is the seventh year the state has used eBay in this way.
Previously, it held live auctions, but those were much less profitable.
Last year’s eBay auction of 2,418 bid lots raised close to $480,000
for the state’s General Fund.
About 1,000 items are in this go-around,
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of:
2. In keeping with:
Steven Grossman. They’ll be auctioned online over the
next month, starting with 100 items placed on eBay on Saturday.
A small sample of the goods will be on display in Worcester
tomorrow from noon to 5 p.m. at the Massachusetts
151 West Boylston Drive.
According to the website for Mr. Grossman’s office, the state
makes a concerted effort to find the rightful owners of the forgotten
items, which need to have gone unclaimed for at least nine years. If a
rightful owner is found after the eBay sale, the state will reimburse
the owner the money gained from the sale. The website says the items
will be able to be viewed by using the eBay seller ID
Who can say why so many items, once so well regarded, sit around
forgotten in bank vaults? Perhaps, in some cases, it’s simply a
matter of a long-ago
tr.v. mis·laid , mis·lay·ing, mis·lays
1. To put in a place that is afterward forgotten:
sheet of paper.
Items this year include a $4,500 Rolex watch, a $25,000 diamond
necklace, and a $3 gold coin minted in 1878 and now worth $4,000. Not
everything carries the whiff of previous generations: A broken Harry
Potter wristwatch is also among the finds. Whatever the winning prices
paid on eBay, the mystery attached to such items comes free of charge.


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Austin County investigators are searching for three suspects who stole a couple dozen patrons of Sealy restaurant’s credit card information, according to a report from KPRC.
The station reported that 23 patrons had their credit card information stolen, and the problem involved victims from Pennsylvania to North Texas.
“They all ate at the same restaurant,” Austin County fraud investigator Sgt. Kyle Fredericksen told KPRC.
Investigators did not release the name of the restaurant. The skimming device that apparently stole the credit card information is a small card reader which stores the information and can print new cards, the report said.
There are three suspects in the case, a woman and two men, and they were videotaped while using their fraudulent cards at stores in the Fry Road area, the report said.
Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call Austin County Crime Stoppers at 979-865-2949.


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The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has extended the deadline for telecommunications providers to offer post-paid mobile customers the option to set spending limits when roaming.
This decision, initially set to take effect on December 18, has been extended to April 1 next year.
It constitutes the final phase of the OUR's decisions, which are contained in its Determination Notice, 'Improving Information Transparency in Telecommunication Markets', published on June 18, 2020.
The new deadline was set after an assessment of the readiness of the telecoms providers and third parties.
The proposed mechanism includes alerts which will inform mobile phone customers of usage levels prior to and on reaching maximum limits.
Post-paid customers will be able to set financial caps or spending limits that will allow them to better manage the expenses associated with the use of the service.